Oscar Wilde

First performed in 1895, "An Ideal Husband" is Oscar Wilde's classic and much-loved comedic drama. The play tells the story of an up-and-coming politician, Sir Robert Chiltern, who tries to hide his secret past from his judgmental wife and the blackmail scheme he is forced to participate in to keep that secret quiet. Lady Chiltern has a very particular idea of what makes the "ideal husband" which leaves her with little tolerance for Sir Robert's all...

Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince and Other Stories(1888) is an inscrutable, magical fairy tale collection that has filled readers of all ages with joy and wonder. Each story explores profound truths of love, morality, and suffering; yet there is a poignant beauty that shines through each of these remarkable and timeless tales. The opening story, "The Happy Prince" is set in a town full of suffering, where a little sparrow who had been abandoned by...

Oscar Wilde's spooky tale of a genteel English ghost clashing with a brash American family is endearing, hilarious, and perfect reading for all ages  Canterville Chase possesses all of the trappings of a standard haunted country house-including large suits of armor and Gothic paneled library walls. However, it soon becomes difficult to ignore the spooky signs that "Sir Simon" is haunting the house-the usual Halloween fare of rattling chains and...

A House of Pomegranates is a series of enchanting stories from Oscar Wilde highlighting the moral conflicts, deception, tragedies and triumphs of four distinct narratives. Each tale features a profound transformation that may or may not lead to a happy ending. In A House of Pomegranates readers will find rich stories with fantastical characters in mystical settings. The book consists of "The Young King," "The Birthday of the Infanta," "The Fisherman...

Oscar Wilde presents a libertarian socialist view of the economic disparities caused by capitalism, that lead to futile acts of charity instead of definitive solutions. Wilde encourages an overhaul of the structures that allow such inequalities to exist. The Soul of Man Under Socialism is an insightful look into Wilde's personal and political beliefs. Within the essay, he emphasizes individualism over group think, using Jesus Christ as a prime example....

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854—1900) was an Irish poet and playwright who became one of the most popular in London during the 1880s and 1890s. Well-known for his sharp wit and extravagant attire, Wilde was a proponent of aestheticism and wrote in a variety of forms including poetry, fiction, and drama. He was famously imprisoned for homosexual acts from 1895 to 1897 and died at the age of 46, just three years after his release. Although...

When the prophet Jokanaan is brought to the attention of the princess Salomé, he rebukes her interest, which causes her to make a brutal declaration. Oscar Wilde's one-act tragedy explores the repercussions of her horrifying decision. Originally composed in French in 1892, Salomé is a controversial tale full of cruelty and retribution. Wilde expands on the Biblical story of John the Baptist, whom was captured and beheaded by Herod Antipas....

A pleasant short story about Sir Arthur Savile, charming in her naivety and hypertrophied in her nobility. Ironic humor, a beautiful syllable, wise quotes, an English spirit and a non-standard prose of life. At the dinner party, the young and noble Sir Arthur Savile finds out that from now on he does not allow him to live in peace and marry his girlfriend. After a night of thought, he makes a gentleman's decision, requiring him to act in a non-gentlemanly...

Playwright, poet, essayist, flamboyant man-about-town, Oscar Wilde pack an astonishing amount of work, genius, and controversy into two short decades, producing masterworks in every literary genre. This selection includes almost all of his short stories, including "The Canterville Ghost," "The Fisherman and his Soul," and "The Remarkable Rocket." Alongside THE MODEL MILLIONAIRE, Harper Perennial will publish the short fiction of Fyodor Dostoevsky,...